My road to ascension might have changed

Around a decade ago, I compiled a list of items that at the time, I think would make me happy if I had the money. You know, the best smartphones, computers, the likes. I bookmarked those links into a folder on my bookmark toolbar in Chrome. I have since moved on from Chrome, and had barely touched for quite some time. If I’m being honest, I’m quite surprised to see them, but I thought it would be fun, barreling down memory lane.

For context, this is what my old list looks like:

• Mac Master Race
• Mac Monitors
• Working Keyboard
• Working Mouse
• Trackpad
• Because it’s an iPhone
• AirPods
• Time piece
• If I ever have to work on the go
• Consume media everywhere
• May our Temps be low and our Frames be high
• Gaming Mouse
• Crown
• Keyboard
• Desk
• Throne
• When I don’t feel like working
• Family car
• TV
• TV Box
• Sound Bar
• Bluetooth Speaker
• NAS
• NAS Hard Drive
• Backpack
• Gym Headphones

I think it would be fun for me to see how I’d change that list if I were to do it now. After all, I have changed a fair bit since those days, or so I’d like to believe. I will try to through the list and see what the links point to. If they don’t, then I’d try my best to guess and go from there.

There would be some items that I want to add, and some items that I think that are not important, which I will remove.

To really be “Ascended”, even myself back then would have said that you need a property of some sort. We might disagree on the location and perhaps the type of property, but overall, I think it’s a given that we’d want our own, very nice house wherever we live. This list is sort of our self-indulgent list.

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With that out of the way, let’s get on with the list.

The first 10 items were basically the most expensive products that Apple sold or go with those items. A Mac Pro as my workstation, a pair of LG Ultrawide 5K monitors, an Apple Magic Keyboard, an MX Master mouse, a Magic Trackpad, the latest and greatest iPhone, a pair of AirPods, and lastly, a MacBook Pro. The link to that MacBook doesn’t work any more, but my guess is that it’s the 16 inch i9 MacBook Pro. Or 15 inch, whatever was the largest MacBook back in the day. But let’s go through them, shall we?

Given the state of Macs, I would not chosen a Mac desktop or a large MacBook at the moment, as the efficiency of those M chips means that you’re not really giving up any performance, so I’d choose a MacBook Pro 14, M4 is the latest and greatest at the moment, so why not. But that’s if I were to choose a Mac. I am actually deciding on my next laptop, and a Mac would fit my needs very well, but I’m simply not used to how MacOS works, despite having used it for a little bit. I like the battery life, the trackpad, but the keyboard required a complete relearn, which is something that I’m hesitant, to say the least, to do. Especially when Linux on ThinkPads exist. I mean, it’s a meme, but my experience with Linux on ThinkPads have been great. I thought I would need to go back to Windows for work, but it would turn out that Windows is so bad that I would need to use WSL, at which point I might as well just install Linux.

The only problem of that is that battery life on Linux is generally substantially worse, which is exacerbated by the new chips, that Windows could take full advantage of, while Linux, as far as I know, could not, at least to the same extend. Of course, if battery life is the name of the game, then a Mac it is, but it’s a Mac, and if a Windows laptop could go for around 5 or 6 hrs screen on time, then it’s good enough for me, the problem is that a Linux laptop can only go 3 or 4, then it’s not enough. Don’t get me wrong, my experience in Windows tells me that its power management is no where near as good as a Mac, like sleep is a mess, but they could take full advantage of what’s inside the box, while it’s hard to say that for Linux.

Given the nature of my work, where the heavy lifting would be done by internal servers hooked up to company-provided desktops, I would not waste time and money on a desktop. I would have a laptop, and even though I haven’t decided which direction to go, if I go Macs, then a MacBook Pro 14 is probably a safe bet, or even an Air would probably more than enough, and being a good bit lighter. If not, then I’d go with a ThinkPad P14s Gen 5. The return of swappable memory is a welcomed one, and the keyboard, though probably not as good as a classic 7 row, is probably among the best today and given my experience with an older P14s, leagues above a Mac. I’d probably go Intel, because as far as I know they come with a bigger battery, and they’re more efficient and compatible when it comes to Linux, which would be the sole choice of OS if not Macs. Yes, I’m planning to go full Unix and Unix-like. I’d probably go with no dGPU, since they would be a battery hog more than anything, and the bare minimum when it comes to storage and memory, because, unlike Macs, can be upgraded. Throw in 2 1TB NVME drives in there, then I’d be a happy camper.

As for peripherals, that 5k display is not a bad choice, even today. If I had balls to the walls money, I’d probably go with a Mac display or whatever that is, basically an iMac without the internals, if not then any compatible 4K OLED monitor with USB-C charging will do. As for my work keyboard(s), I saw that I had a gaming and working keyboard entry, which I’ll convert to office and home keyboard. Both of them should be similar, something like a Rainy 75, basically good aluminium case, QMK for that quick and consistent remap, and some banging keycaps. The difference would be that I’d want a keycap set that’s more subdued for my work keyboard, as well as a set of silent switches, while I want my home keyboard to feel as nice as it could be. I’d say something made by the Wuque Studio, is the best, though really, I’ve found myself not really that picky about the brands, so long as they are smooth and fits the sound requirement. I’d say that I’d prefer my office switches to be silent tactile, though that silent should be because it’s smooth and there’s a lot of dampening rather than the stems having a silicon end, that feels horrible to me.

The smartwatch that I’m wearing, a Garmin Aviator Marq 2, is actually more expensive (and in my humble opinion, better) and an Apple Watch, even the Pro. There’re some exclusive versions that are more expensive, but for the most part, my watch is of a (few) class above, let’s say, and it’s perfect. I’d just say though, that if I were to expand my watch collection beyond a pair of smartwatch, one for working out and one for everyday (I have a vivosport 5 for that), I’d want a mechanical watch. If nothing else, it’s fascinating to see how they work, the precision of the craftsmanship. Something like an Omega? I mean Rolex is the popular one, but I’d like a quiet luxury one. I guess I’ll find out when I have the money.

As for a tablet, well, an iPad Pro is not more useful than any other iPad at the moment, and even if money is no object, it’s still heavy, so an Air for when I’m on my bed. Perhaps I should consider a Kindle, but the fact to the matter is that paper books are just better.

As for tablets, especially if I go Macs, then AirPods are the way to go, but if not then… I don’t know. Probably something from Sennheiser, if they’ve not gone bust, if they did then probably something from Sony or Bose. It’d have to be full wireless, because I’m not strangling myself with a wire hanging around my neck, and I’ve accepted the fact that the headphone jack on phones is sadly a thing of the past.

For phones, probably the iPhone is still the saner choice at the moment, but I’d not complain with an Android phone. Basically, I don’t really care about phones any more, as long as they work, they work. If I can choose, I’d choose a smaller phone.

The next item is named “May our Temps be low and our Frames be high”, basically the motto of r/pcmasterrace. I’m slightly torn about this. On 1 hand I’d love to continue sim racing, because if nothing else, going fast in a car is dangerous, and I want to be do so without hurting myself, and it’s simply easier to just hop in a sim session than drive to the local track. On the other hand, though, I think I’m right in saying that it’s the only gaming that I’d want to do left, and even then it’s a dying passion. Don’t get me wrong I still love cars and racing, but I’m simply running out of free time. On those precious moment away from work, I’ve been finding myself wanting to stay away from stress, which intense gaming surely has.

Say that I do, then I’d go with a custom system. A Ryzen 7, 64GB of memory, xx80 system or similar would surely be enough to fulfil my needs. Couple that with some wheel and pedal setup from say, Thrustmaster, then I’ll be fine just fine. Though that would mean that I’m not NT free any more. That is a sacrifice that I’m willing to make though.

The mouse and keyboard setup is less important if I don’t game on them. I mean let’s say a G Pro Wireless, because why not. And they keyboard that that I’ve described before. That, combined with a keyboard-trackpad thing that’s meant for TVs for my sim racing.

If I don’t go with a gaming PC, then an old ThinkPad running Linux is probably the best, because compatibility has the highest chance, and if I were to do anything, I’d need to be mindful of the computational limitation, so that would reduce inefficiencies. Basically, what I’m having now. If not ThinkPads then any small form factor PC will do.

I would not change my “Crown”, or my home headphones, and that’s the end of that. The desk would probably be custom made, so I’d change that, but the chair… hmmm. I’ve not looked too much into them, even then, so just keep it I guess.

Then, we get into the spicier business of cars. It would appear that in my journey to Nirvana then, I’d only picked 2 cars, 1 fun, and 1 daily. Well, firstly, I’d add a truck/4x4/Pickup, either a Land Cruiser or a Hilux, but say that I keep it to 2, because if I add 1 then I’d add another, then I’d end up with every car ever, so let’s keep it 2, a daily and a weekend car. Back then I would have chosen a super duper 911 I think, either that or a Cayman GT4RS. Not that those are not nice cars, even back in that time, but I would not choose those cars now, simply because they’re too fast for me. Even on track, I’m fairly sure that I will never drive as fast as they were designed to do, I think I’d leave the breakneck thing on my sim rig. On a Sunday sunrise, I think I’d take a Singer, or something of that nature. The only problem is that I’m not allowed to drive a manual. If I had the money to buy a really good manual car, I’d go for a license, but if I can’t for whatever reason, then the new Civic RS sounds really nice. But if I do, then a properly done restomod on an empty piece of switchback tarmac sounds heavenly. Another alternative is a bicycle. I don’t know too much about those except for they can also get ridiculously expensive (and nice), but I haven’t looked too much into what bikes to get if I have the money. I’m sorta in the phase of learning how to get the money.

For the school runs and the miserable everyday drive, unless traffic where I live changes drastically, I would not consider a car, they are simply too bulky and you can’t park them. I don’t like spending half an hour a day just to find a parking spot if I’m lucky and then spend at least another 20 minutes walking from that spot to work, never mind the return trip, I wouldn’t do it in any car. What I’d do is get a motorbike. I think I’d like something like a Yamaha PG 1. I haven’t looked too much into bikes, but that is a bike that looks nice to me. It’s not too shouty, but is still unique in its own way. And the fact that you don’t have to lie forward or backward while riding it is a huge plus in day to day, bumper to bumper traffic. If it rains then I’d just get an Uber.

That being said, there would come a time and place that I would need a bigger car. I mean, if it’s just for a family of 4, I’d take a Hilux, but seeing that there are other needs, we probably need a people carrier. I actually quite like how the new ID Buzz looks, and let’s just take price of the equation, shall we? The range is disappointing, and you can’t actually carry all that much. It doesn’t seem like the lovable thing that the OG Bus was. If they can sort that out, then I’d have that, but if not, and chances are that they won’t, then I’d take the Carnival.

Regarding TVs, TV boxes and sound bars, I don’t have a strong opinion on them. In fact, I’d probably take out the sound bar, and the box. The TV is only for movies anyway. And I’d value a clean system with good enough sound more than a banging sound system but messy.

Bluetooth speakers? I leave that, it’s a trivial item that I have not used since… forever. I mean, it’s nice to have a wireless sound system on my desk, but I don’t use it, and I have never found myself needing anything more than my phone while on trips.

Next is NAS and its hard drives. I don’t need a system, but if I could and if it’s easy, then yeah, why not. I quite like the idea of managing my own Google Drive in my home, to keep all my legally acquired movies and Linux ISOs and use them however I see fit. Overall I think I’d need around 4TB? Who knows, the more the merrier with this kind of things, especially if I can have a dedicated room for it.

The goal is to not having to use backpacks at all. I would only have to carry an iPad/laptop over short distances, in that case just do it by hand or a small hand bag would be enough. If I need to carry things for a business trip then I’d use a suit case.

Things like consumer-headphones shouldn’t matter all that much, right? Like I remember getting all hyped up when I saw LTT and various other YouTubers making videos about Bluetooth speakers and whatnot, some even say that they’re essential for dorm life.

So the current list would look a little like this:

• Laptop: Either a MacBook Air 13 or a ThinkPad X1 Carbon or something of that calibre. Preferably, I would not have to carry a laptop at all.
• iPad: The lightest one.
• Phone: doesn’t really matter, so long as they support the things that I need well enough. Currently iPhones have better support.
• Watches: I want multiple. 1 for working out, 1 for everyday use, and at least another mechanical watch for special occasion. I already have the first 2, even replacing them in the future should not be too hard, it’s the mechanical that I have to work for .
• A custom build PC for my sim rig. This is perhaps the thing that change the least. Things like headphones and mice don’t change. A different set of keyboards, but overall, not that important. Something like what I’m having at the moment is more that good enough.
• NAS: This would be a personal project. I can take it or leave it, really. Well, it depends on how I consume media, right? That’s the only thing that I could think of using it for. I think that if I could double my PC as a server it would be more ideal. Less headaches.
• I’d want nice clothes, especially suits. I want some proper suits. For when the occasions call for or if I just feel like it.
• Transport wise, an M3 Touring or an Alpina version of that for my 1 car garage, if I can have 2, then an ID Buzz or a Carnival or even a bike and a Singer 911 or a 911 Touring would make an epic garage.

Ultimately, it doesn’t really matter all that much, as long as there is something for the little kid that loved cars in me, then I’m happy.